Our Best Hopes for Election 2008

Dear Reader,

Everybody's paying attention to the presidential candidates this election season; but what about the issues that Americans care passionately about. Is this an opportunity to get real change on the political agenda?

I spoke to some grassroots organizers, national leaders, and elected officials and asked where are our best hopes for real change to come out of election 2008. Read the Vote Hope interviews.

Sarah van Gelder
Executive Editor, YES! Magazine

P.S. See this and other articles from our current issue online or sign up today for a Free Trial Issue.

Acupuncture for All
Imagine acupuncturists being integral to every community, and acupuncture being the medicine everyone uses and values. These community practitioners in Portland have set up clinics where everyone is welcome.

The Winter 2008 issue of YES! Magazine highlights ways people are choosing to live free. Why wait for permission? Claim space to be free, feed your spirit and the spirit of those you are with. Don’t ask for change. Be the change!

Hot for Burning Man
Burners from far-flung parts of the globe descend each year on the gypsum powder of the Black Rock Desert for a cultural bacchanal devoted to exploring the possibilities for the human race.
  PHOTO ESSAY  See Catherine Bailey's photos from the 2007 Burning Man.

The Power of Spectacle
Clowns and puppets, art and music, theater and drumbeats: street spectacle is often more effective than speeches and leaflets in creating change. Jen Angel explores the fine art of raising a ruckus.


Being the Change: In Gandhi's Footsteps
Gandhi taught about how to find freedom in self-reliance, intention, and tradition. We follow an activist's journey back to traditional ways, and invite you to end your dependence on the sewage empire: go ecological!

Celebrating a Critical Mass
What form would the Boston Tea Party take today, against our psychological traffic jam? Reverend Billy on bikes and free speech: how the free expression of Critical Mass bicyclists is reclaiming public space.


Pirates on the Open Airwaves
Meet the buccaneers of bandwidth: fed up with growing corporate control of public airwaves, they're creating pirate radio stations that serve their communities, and get diverse voices on the air.

Suggest a caption for the latest monthly YES! cartoon. All winning entries will be posted online, and the funniest captions each quarter will be included in our print issue of YES! If this form doesn't work for you, please email your caption to YesComments[at]yesmagazine.org. “I'll see you when we get there.” The best captions for the 'Tandem' cartoon.

Photo by Rob Hill/ISP

In our last newsletter, we asked the following questions:
• What carbon-reducing step have you taken that gives you the most pleasure?
• What's the next carbon-reducing step you plan to take?

Read responses from readers, and get a taste of our upcoming Climate Solutions issue.

Pete Seeger: "YES! is my absolute favorite magazine."

Bring the World Social Forum to your doorstep this year. Find out about plans for the 2008 Global Days of Action.

Set yourself FREE! Explore our Handy How-To Guide for Liberation.

Classy digs: egalitarian life in Seattle's "finishing school" for activists.

Lessons for the Climate Challenge: interview with leading Canadian activist Maude Barlow.

See the trailer for Voices in Wartime: healing the wounds of war, and creating a less violent world.

www.yesmagazine.org